Loose nailing machine



July 22, 1941. Q ROBINSON. 2,249,784

LOOSE NAILING MACHINE Filed July 20. 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 22, 1941.

c. A. ROBINSON 2,249,784 LOOQE NAILING MACHINE Filed July 20, '1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 22, 1941 LOOSE NAILING MACHINE Charles A. Robinson, Salem, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemingtcn, N. .l'., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 20, 1940, Serial No. 346,589

7 Claims.

This invention relates to loose nailing machines and is illustrated as embodied in an improved nail separator. f

' In machines of the general type disclosed, for example, in United States Letters Patent No. 030,775, granted June 25, 1912, on an application filed in the name of George Goddu, there is disclosed a nail separator having an upper finger which during the initial forward movement of the separator isolates an endmost nail in-araceway and forces the head of the nail with considerable pressure against a nail driver operative in a channel of a driver guide, and which simultaneously-therewith tips the lower end of the nail into the channel.

In order to insure that in the limited time available the head of the nailshall be forced into the channel of the driver guide and beneath the driver "after said driver has been raised above the head of the nail and the separator has imparted to it a secondary forward movement, it has been found that the pressurewhich must be exerted against said nail by the upper finger is so great that the upper finger is unduly flexed and is frequently broken. Moreover, the pressure of the nail against the driver causes the latter to become burred, with the result that as the driver is raised out of contact with thenail it tends to lift; the nail in the raceway and thus interferes with the proper insertion of the nail into the channel of the driver guide.

It is an object of the present invention to pro- 'vide a loose nailing machine having an improved separator which will quickly and effectively -deliver nails from a raceway into a channel of "a driver guide without danger of breaking the separator or roughing up the driver as above described and thus interfering with theoperation of the machine. z

Withthe above object in view and in accordance with a feature of the present invention there is provided a loose nailing machine comprising a driver guide having 'achannel, a racewayfor conducting a line of nails to said channel, a separator for isolating the endmost nail inthe raceway from the remaining nails and delivering it'to the channel, said separator'h'avin'g upper and lower fingers, the lower finger being constructed and arranged to be held positively against the driver-guide during 'a portionof the operation of the machine and the upper finger being mounted for yielding movement relatively to the lower finger away from the driver guide,

and resilient means for constantly urging the "upper finger toward the driver-guide.

In the illustrative machine the upper finger of the-separator has a hook-shaped portion constructed and arranged to be loosely received in a channel'of the'lower finger of the separator. The upper finger is normally held in the general 'plane of the lower finger by a spring-pressed plunger housed in an arm through which the separator is yieldingly operated in a rectilinear path disposed transversely of the raceway. When into the channel of the driver guide. driver israised above said first nail in the racethe separator is initially moved between the first and second nails in the raceway, it swings the lower end of the first nail into the channel of the driver guide and also forces the head of said nail against the driver in said guide and at the same time yields slightly against action of the spring-pressed plunger with relation to the lower finger and away from the driver guide, thereby insuring that the head of the-nail shall not be forced with excessive pressure against the driver and thus insuring against breakage to cause the lower end of the nail to be swung As the way the separator is moved further forward between the first and second nails and is swung toward the driver guide by the spring-pressed plunger, thereby flipping the head of the nail intothe channel of the driver guide and beneath the driver. During the second step forward of the separator a fiat face of the lower finger .closes up the open side of the channel of the driver guide and forms therewith a closed or unbroken passageway which serves as a guide for the driver and through which the nail is delivered to'a cylindrical passageway of a throat g'er of-breaking the separator, the pressure of the upper finger against the nail never being 'gr'eatenough to cause the nail to rough up the driver as above described. Moreover, by having the lower finger held against movement away from the driver guide during the driving of the'nail, said "lower finger, in combination with thedriver-guide, forms an elfective passageway -for controlling-movementof the driver, it being appreciated that-if the-lower finger of the separator were yieldable away from the driver guide and the driver were slightly sprung, as is sometimes the case, said driver would not be properly guided into the cylindrical passageway of the throat.

The various feaures of the invention will be understood and appreciated from the following detailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2 are perspective views, partly broken away and partly in section, showing the operating head of the illustrative loose nailing machine during two difierent stages in the operation of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a section, partly broken away, on line IIIIII of Fig. 4;

Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, are sectional views, partly broken away, on line IV-IV of Fig. 1, showing the different operative parts of the machine during four difierent stages in the operation of the machine; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views of a nail separator of the illustrative machine.

As in the machine disclosed in said Letters Patent No. 1,030,775, the illustrative machine comprises an abutment 20, a horn 22 for supporting a shoe 24 the sole 26 of which is to be attached by nails 21, and for forcing said sole against the abutment 20, a gage 23 (Fig. 3)

shaped and arranged to be engaged by the edge of the sole, a nail driver 30 which is secured to a slide 32 (Figs. 1 and 2) mounted for vertical movement in a guideway 34 (Fig. 1) of the frame 36 of the machine, and a driver guide 38 which is secured to the machine frame and has a chan-y nel 46 in which the driver 30 reciprocates.

Preparatory to driving each nail 27 a hole 42 (Figs. 6 and '7) is punched in the sole 26 of the shoe by an awl 44 which, after punching said hole, feeds the shoe in engagement with the gage;-

way 66 (Fig. 3) of the machine frame through the provisions of a rack 68 which meshes with a pivotally mounted segment gear having at its upper end a cam roll (not shown).

Supported upon the carrier slide 62 is the separator 56 (Figs. 8 and 9) which, as will appear later, may yield relatively to the carrier slide should the separator during its forward stroke hit a nail 21 in' the raceway 50 on dead center, for example. The connecting mechanism between the separator 56 and the carrier slide 62 28 from its position shown in Fig. 4: to its position shown in Fig. 5, the arrangement being such that the hole is moved to a position directly beneath the driver and into alinement with a cylindrical passage 46 (Figs. 4, 6 and 7) of a;

throat 48 moved to its operative position shown in Figs. 6 and '7.

The nails 2'! are fed to the channel of the driver guide 38 along a raceway 50 the lower end of which is approximately in contact with a face;

52 (Figs. 1 and 2) of the driver guide 38, a nail slot 54 (Fig. 1) of the raceway being arranged opposite the channel 46. The nails are arranged in alinement in the nail slot 54 of the raceway 50 and are fed one by one to the channel 40 of; .l

the driver guide 38 by an improved separator 56 (Figs. 8 and 9) to which this application is mainly directed, and which, as will appear later, 'advances across the line of nails 21 in the raceway 50 to separate or isolate the endmost nail in the raceway from the remaining nails and later to inject the endmost nail into the channel 40 of the driver guide 38.

The throat 43 has a tongue 53 (Figs. 4, 5, 6 and '7) fitting in a groove 60 of a carrier slide 62 in order to allow the awl,

comprises a cylindrical slide I2 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) having at its enlarged forward end a groove 14 in which fits a tongue I6 of a bracket I8, the arrangement being such that the bracket may be initially secured by a screw in its proper adjusted position to the carrier slide, so as to insure that the separator may effectively engage the face 52 of the driver guide 38 in order to close the open side of the channel 40, as will appear later. The cylindrical slide I2 is guided in a cylindrical guideway 82 of the machine frame and has housed within it a spring 84 (Fig. 3) the forward end of which engages the cylindrical slide and the rear end of which engages the rear end of a recess 86 of a slide 08 housed within the cylindrical slide. Formed in the cylindrical slide 12 is a recess 90 in which fits a lug 92 extending upwardly from the carrier slide, the cylindrical slide I2 being provided with a slot 94 so that the separator can yield with relation to the carrier slide as above described should said separator, for example, hit the center of a nail in the raceway, the spring 84, which is relatively strong, in the normal operation of the machine serving to force the rear end of the slot 94 against the lug 92, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

As will appear later, the separator comprises upper and lower fingers 96 and 98, respectively, the lower finger being provided with a tongue I00 (Figs. 2 and 8) fitting in a groove I02 of the bracket I8 and being secured to the bracket by a screw I04 which passes through a cylindrical recess in the bracket and is threaded into the lower finger.

In order to eliminate the breakage of the upper fingers of one-piece separators such as disclosed .in said Letters Patent No. 1,030,775, and to in- 9) shaped and arranged loosely to. receive a hooked portion I06 of the upper finger 96, the arrangement being such that the upper finger is normally held by a spring-pressed plunger I08 (Fig. 8) in thegeneral plane'of the lower finger, fiat faces H0 (Fig. 9) and I I2, respectively, of the upper and lower finge'r's normally being in approximate alinement. The spring-pressed plunger I08 (Fig. 8) is housedin .a recess II4 of the bracket 18, the effective strength of a spring I I6 backing up the plunger'being varied by turning a screw I I8 threaded in the recess.

. When the machine is idle, the separatorIBE is interposed between the driver 30 andthe endmost nail 21 inthe racewayi l), thedriver being down and the awl 44f up. When the machine is started, the driver. 30-isiraisedto clearlthefthroat 48, the awl 44 being lowered to its position shown As the sole of the shoe is being fed by the awl 44 the carrier slide 62 is moved rearwardlyv and moves with it the throat 48 and the separator 55, there being a slight dwell in the .upward movement of the driver 30 after it has.

cleared the throat 48, as shown in Fig.5, so as to cause the driver to block theend .of the nail slot 54 of the raceway 5,6 and thus prevent any part of the endmost nail in the raceway from entering the channel ie of the driver guide 38.

While the awl 44 is being withdrawn from the sole 26 of the shoe 24 the driver 30 is moved upwardly until its lower end is arranged opposite the head of said endmost nail, at which time the driver 30 has a second dwell, the separator 55 .during this period moving forwardly and transversely of the raceway 50 between the first two .nails in the raceway, the thin leading portion [20 (Figs, 8 and 9) of the upper finger 96 entering beneath the shanks of the nails just below their heads, an upwardly beveled face I22 (Fig. 9) of said finger then tipping the pointed or lower end of; the nail into the channel 40 of the driver guide 38 while the head of the nail is forced against the driver, as illustrated in Fig. 6.

V, The nail?! is usually swung into the channel 40 of the driver guide 38, as above described, by the action of the upper finger 9S alone. It sometimes happens, however, that when the nail is bent, for example, the lower end of the same is not properly turned into the channel 40 by the Fig, 9) of the lower finger 98 forces the nail into the channel. After the lower end of the nail has been tipped into the channel 40 of the driver guide 38, the face H2 of the separator which engages the face 52 of the driver guide 38 covers the channel and forms therewith an unbroken passageway through which the nail may be effectively delivered to the passageway 46. of the throat 48 and which serves positively to guide the driver 30 to said passageway 46.

After the lower end of the nail 21 has been swung into the channel as of .the driver guide 38, as above described, there is a slight dwell in the forward movement of the separator 55 and the throat 48, during which the driver 39 moves upwardly and releasesthe head of the nail. Immediately upon the release of the nail the separator B and the throat 48 have imparted to them jati onof the machine the descending driver 30 engages thehead of the nail before it has time to drop by gravitythrough the passageway formed by the channel 545 of the driver guidev 38 and the face 1 52 of the lower finger 98, and drivesthe nail through the sole of the shoe and against the horn 22, thereby clenching said nail.

Itwill be noted that the machine runs at a speed of approximately 550 or more cycles per minute and that the interval between the time that the nail is released and the driver comes down against said nail is extremely short. As above stated, in loose nailing machines of the type described in said Letters Patent No. 1,030,775, having a separator the upper and lower fingers of which are made of one piece, it has been found upper finger 95, in which case a beveled face 124 that, in order forthe upper finger of the separator to move the head of'the nail into the channel of the-driver guide'before the driver moves downwardly against the nail, it is desirable, during .theinitial forward movement of the sepaupper finger is flipped back toward the driver guidev and that such movement of the finger in combination with the secondary forward camming movement of the same causes the head of the nail, which has a tendency to hang on the raceway, to be moved into the channel within the short timerequired. As above explained. it frequently happens that the pressure'of a slightly bent or. otherwise. poorly formed nail frequently causes the upper finger of the'one-piece separator, :during its initial forward movement, to be excessively flexed away from the driver guide, with the result that the finger is fractured. Moreovenit has-been found that when a onepiece separator is used, the nail has to be forced against the driver with so much force that it burrs the driver and, accordingly, such driver tends to pick the nail from the raceway at the critical time that said nail is to be moved into the channel of the driver guide, therebyinterfering with theproper operation of the machine;

By providing the separator 56with a separately formed upper finger 56 which is mounted for tilting movement away from the driver guide 38, and backing up said upper finger by the spring H6, it will be clear that said-finger is deflected slightly away from the driver guide 38 to its dotted line position, for example, shown in Fig. 9, against the action of the spring-pressed plunger 108 during the initial forward movement of the separator. As the driver 30 releases the head of the, nail and the separator 56 has said secondary forward movement imparted to it, the upper finger is moved or flipped back against the face 52 of the driver guide 38 by the springpressed plunger M8,,the joint effect of the swinging action and the forward camming action'of the upper finger being, quickly and effectively to move the head of the nail into the channel of the driver guide 38 and beneath the driver -30. .Whenever thereisa poorly formednail at the lower end of the groove 54' of the raceway 56, the; upper finger 95 of the separator 56 yields away from the driver guide 38 sufficiently to in- --30 has been eliminated, thereby insuringagainst the nail being raised on the raceway 58 by the driver just as it is about to be inserted into the channel 40 of the driver guide 38.

It will'be noted that after the lower end of .the endmost'nail 21 has been swung into the channel -40 of the driver guide 38, the face N2 of the lower finger 96 of the separator 56 is moved forwardly into engagement with the face 52 of the driver guide 38, causing the lower finger to form with the driver guide an unbroken passageway. Since the lower finger 98 of the separator 56 is held against yielding movement away from the face 52 of the driver guide 38, a rigid passageway for the nail and the driver is formed by the driver guide and the lower finger of the separator.

Should the lower finger 98 of the separator 56 be yieldable away from the face 52 of the driver guide 38, the operation of the machine would be seriously interfered with, since a nail with a defective head, for example, when being driven might then force the lower finger of the separator away from the driver guide with the result that the nail would not be properly guided into the passageway 46 of the throat 48. Moreover, it hasbeen found that the driver frequently becomes sprung, and unless there is a rigid passageway for guiding the driver 30, said passageway.

and lower fingers, the lower finger being positively held in engagement with the driver guide during a portion of the operation of the machine and the upper finger being movable relatively to the lower finger and away from the driver guide, and

yieldable means for constantly urging the upperfinger toward the driver guide.

2. In a loose nailing machine, a nail separator comprising a lower finger having a fiat face, an upper finger which has a fiat face and is mounted for movement with relation to the lower finger, and means comprising yieldable mechanism constructed and arranged normally to maintain said face of the upper finger in the general plane of the face of the lower finger but to permit said .face of the upper finger to move out of the general plane of the face of the lower finger.

3. In a loose nailing machine, a driver, a guide for the driver, said guide having a channel, a.

raceway for feeding a line of nails to said channel, a nail separator movable across the line of nails in the raceway to isolate the endmost nail and. to'deliver said nail to said channel, said separator comprising a lower finger, an upper finger.

which is movable generally lengthwise of the line of nails with relation to said lower finger, and resilient means constructed and arranged normally to maintain the upper finger in a general plane of the lower finger but to permit the upper finger to move away from the driver guide and out of said general plane of the lower finger.

4. A loose nailing machine having, in combination, a driver guide having a channel, a raceway for feeding a line of nails to said channel, a'

yieldable presser member, and a separator movable across the line of nails to isolate the endmost nail in the raceway and to deliver said endmost nail to the channel, said separator comprising a lower finger having a face constructed and arranged during a portion of the cycle of operation of the machine to be positively held against the driver guide to close an open side of said channel, said separator also comprising an upper-finger which is mounted for bodily movement away from the driver guide against the action of said presser member during a portion of the movement of the separator across the line of nails, the upper finger being bodily moved tovward the driver guide by said presser member during another portion of the movement of the separator across said line of nails.

5. A loose nailing machine having, in combination, a driver, a guide for the driver, said guide having a channel for receiving said driver, a raceway for feeding a line of nails to said channel, a separator yieldingly movable across the line of nails to isolate the endmost nail in the raceway from the remaining nails and to cause said endmost nail to be transferred into said channel,

'said separator comprising upper and lower fingers, and means for normally maintaining faces respectively of the fingers in the same general plane and for permitting the upper but not the lower finger to yield away from the driver guide during the movement of the separator across the line of nails.

6. A loose nailing machine having, in combination, a driver, a guide having a'channel for receiving the driver, a raceway constructed and arranged to feed a line of nails to said channel, a separator, and operating mechanism for said separator constructed and arranged to advance the separator across the line of nails to separate the endmost nail from the line of nails in the racewayand to move the endmost nail so separated into the channel, said separator comprising a pair of fingers one of which is nonyieldable lengthwise of the line of nails and is constructed and arranged to cover a portion of the channel of the driver guide and the other of which is yieldable away from the driver guide lengthwise of the line of nails.

I. A loose nailing machine having, in combination, a driver, means for operating the driver, a driver guide having a channel, a throat having a passageway, a raceway constructed and arranged to feed a line of nails to the channel of the driver guide, a nail separator, mechanism for advancing the separator with yielding pressure across the line of nails to separate the endmost nail from said line of nails, said separator comprising upper and lower fingers, said upper finger being constructed and arranged to force the head of said endmost nail against the driver and the lower end of the nail into the channel during movement of the separator across the line of nails, and means comprising a spring actuated member for enabling said upper finger to yield away from the driver guide during a portion of the movement of the separator to insure against forcing the head of the nail with excessive pressure against the driver, said spring actuated member being constructed and arranged to cause said upper finger to force the head of the nail into said channel when'the driver is moved away from the nail during another portion of the operation of the machine, the lower finger of the separator being constructed andarranged to close an open side of the channel in the driver guide and being nonyieldable away from the driver guide in order to insure that the channel shall serve as a positive guideway for the driver.

CHARLES A. ROBINSON. 

